Who’s In Charge Still A Mystery In County

A meeting that embattled Sheriff Joe Overstreet attended only after being subpoenaed by Latah County commissioners ended with the question of who’s in charge unresolved.

Commissioners summoned Overstreet to Tuesday’s meeting after trying for a month to talk to him about an Aug. 4 traffic accident involving a sheriff’s department patrol car.”What are we going to do about the interference with the sheriff’s department?” Overstreet countered.

Among other things, commissioners wanted to ask Overstreet about a news story in which he apparently blamed the accident on a failure by the commission to provide enough money to maintain his department’s vehicles.

He repeated the charge at Tuesday’s meeting, contending a deputy is going to be seriously injured because money is lacking.

The sheriff said he was not obligated to tell the commissioners anything about how he runs his department as long as he stays within his budget.

Commissioner Harry DeWitt said that attitude was the problem, and that commissioners have become frustrated trying to communicate with Overstreet about the accident.

After the meeting, Overstreet said he had not decided whether to comply with commissioners’ demand that he turn over written statements from three deputies who reportedly said the accident was caused by failed brakes.

Mechanics have told the commission the car’s brakes were not defective.

, DataTimes